Articulating medical examination tables may be provided in medical examination rooms to support and place patients in various positions that facilitate examination and/or the performance of various medical procedures. Conventional examination tables may have a table assembly that includes seat section and a back section supported on a base unit. The seat and back sections are moveable relative to one another and relative to the base so that a patient can be placed in a desired position. The seat and/or back sections may be articulated by actuating mechanisms such as motors, pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders, or other devices to move the seat and back sections between the various positions and to adjust the height of the seat and back sections relative to the base.
It may be desirable to clean the floor under a medical examination table on a regular basis in order to maintain a clean medical examination room. In order to facilitate such cleaning, given the size and weight of a medical examination table, it may be desirable to enable a medical examination table to be easily moved along a floor. To the extent that a medical examination table incorporates features (e.g., wheels, rollers, balls, etc.) that enable the medical examination table to be easily moved along a floor, it may be desirable to disable such features when the medical examination table is being used to support a patient. This may prevent undesired movement of the patient with the table along the floor, such as during a medical examination.
While a variety of moveable medical examination tables have been made and used, it is believed that no one has ever made or used a medical examination table as described herein.
The drawings are not intended to be limiting in any way, and it is contemplated that various embodiments of the technology may be carried out in a variety of other ways, including those not necessarily depicted in the drawings. The accompanying drawings incorporated in and forming a part of the specification illustrate several aspects of the present technology, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the technology; it being understood, however, that this technology is not limited to the precise arrangements shown.